Chapter 2

After relentless arguing, Buffy finally agreed to ride on the back of Spike’s motorcycle. He flat out refused to walk, stating time was of the essence. Buffy thought he just wanted to get her on the back of his bike so she would have to hold on to what he called his hot, tight little body.

And that was part of her resistance.

She hated to admit it but there was attraction between them. And boy didn’t he know it, exploiting it every chance he got, flirting or throwing innuendo into what should be a serious conversation. Most of the time, she ignored it. But tonight, she found herself smiling or laughing, taking it all in stride, never taking it serious, of course.

But even now she found herself holding onto him tight as the wind blew in her face. His normal scent of leather, cigarettes and liquor comforted her as she leaned a bit closer, pretending to get a better look at the landscape.

Her breath caught as she realized what she was doing. Appalled by her lack of judgment, she put a little distance between them, loosening her grip on his duster. She didn’t know what was going on with her. For a moment there, she felt like leaning her head against him and indulging in the warmth that seemed to spread the closer she got to him.

It was the alcohol. That had to be it! It was the one thing that seemed to make sense. She had hung out with him plenty of times before and had never acted on anything, knowing all too well that a tiny crumb would push him to take things further. It was time to sober up, really fast.

The bar looked pretty crowded as they pulled up to the curb, and Spike parked his bike next to an expensive looking Harley. Four demons stood outside of the entrance staring as Buffy got off of the bike and walked with Spike to the door. The demons quickly averted their eyes and walked in the opposite direction. Spike didn’t say anything and held the door open, and Buffy entered the bar.

A cloud of cigarette smoke blurred the room while loud music blared from the jukebox in the corner playing a Cheap Trick song, as an argument brewed between a vampire and a green spotted demon. Things seemed pretty similar to The Bronze except for the smoke and demonic energy coming from the place. Buffy felt right at home.

They walked up to the bar, and Spike ordered drinks laying down a few bills.

“Are the boys gathered yet in the back?” Spike asked while checking out the scene around him.

Willy sat down two double shots of whiskey in front of Spike. Eagerly, he swallowed both down, one right after the other.

“Yeah, I think there are four of them back there tonight. Try not to start anything and tear the place apart.”

Buffy assumed he was talking to Spike, until he nudged her. Buffy looked up to Willy staring at her.

Surprised, Buffy replied, “I’m not here for any trouble. Just need a night to unwind.”

“Sure. Just make sure you take it outside if things get out of hand, yeah?”

“No problem.”

Spike nodded to Willy, grabbing a bottle of Jack and walked to the back of the building into the storeroom. Shelves full of liquor filled boxes and beer cases lined the wall, and a green felt table sat at the end of the room with four demons sitting around it.

“Remember what we talked about, pet,” Spike whispered as he walked up to the table.

Buffy followed him.

“Mates, got room for two more?” he said as he motioned to Buffy and himself.

A red demon with three eyes and horns looked up at Spike then at the group. “He kills our kind. Don’t let him in.”

Annoyed, Spike lifted the disgruntled demon up out of his chair and pushed him toward the door. “There’s that then. The lady and I want to buy in.” Spike pulled out the now vacated chair for Buffy and grabbed a chair sitting by the wall, taking a seat next to her.

“What have you brought of value, Spike? Remember tonight, no money allowed so it keeps the game interesting. The Slayer will need to buy in too if she wants to play,” said a green demon with a protruding forehead and horns. He smiled at her with sharp teeth and twinkling eyes.

It gave her the creeps.

“Yeah, yeah I remember. I think you might be interested in what we’ve brought.”

The green demon reached down and grabbed several painted stones out of his cloak, sitting them in the empty basket in the middle of the table.

“Nice Abigor. Haven’t seen charm stones in ages,” said a scaly red demon with tentacles coming out of its head like dreadlocks.

A pale demon with sagging skin sat down a silver globe, and without pause the scaly demon sat down a dagger with an intricate engraving on the handle. All eyes moved to Spike and Buffy as they waited to see what they had to offer. Spike pulled out of his pocket a vial with what looked to be a small cockroach and tossed it in the basket.

Buffy’s eyes rose in surprise as she wondered what the hell it was.

Before she was able to verbalize her thoughts, the saggy skin demon said, “A verbox, Spike? Where did you get one of those?”

“Never mind that Clem, it’s here isn’t it,” Spike said with a smirk.

Buffy raised her eyes, questioning the significance of Clem’s remark. Spike just waved her off. She stared at him for a moment, her blood pressure rising. Later she would have plenty to say about this, but for now she would keep with the plan and keep her cool.

She sat there quietly until Spike nudged her, and gave her a look.

“Oh, right. I guess it’s my turn.” She giggled, trying to appear a bit tipsy to put the demons at ease and to hide her lack of experience of the game. As unsure she was about doing this, she knew there was no turning back. She grabbed the small vial out of her jeans pocket and laid it in the basket.

The demons all stared at it.

“Blood, Slayer? I’m sure that’s an attractive prize to Spike, but I don’t see how any of the rest of us here will be interested,” Abigor said.

Defiant, Buffy lifted her chin and stared at each of the demons with a smirk on her face. “That’s not ordinary human blood. It’s mine.”

“Is that so? So we are supposed to take your word for it, and believe this is your blood? I wouldn’t think a Slayer would be so ready to give up something as powerful as her blood, especially to a group of demons?” Abigor’s tone was arrogant and snide.

The others folded their arms in agreement, and waited for her explain.

Buffy rolled her eyes and stared them down. There was no way she was going to let these bastards think they were going to intimidate her. That was her job, damn it!

Slowly, she raised her left hand, revealing the cut in the center of her palm where she sliced it earlier. There hadn’t been much time and few ways to collect the blood, so she sent Spike out of the room and went with the old fashion way with Spike’s knife. Not that it didn’t sting or anything.

There was a collective gasp and the demons were speechless for a few minutes, as if they were processing what was actually happening.

Satisfied, Buffy leaned back in her chair and folded her arms.

Spike laughed. “Deal, mate. You’ve all the proof you need she’s not bluffing.”

They muttered their approval. The saggy skin demon called Clem started shuffling the cards, as the dreadlocked demon referred to as Savnock distributed the chips. Abigor shifted in his chair, obviously agitated.

Spike nodded.

Buffy sat back in her chair as Clem dealt each player the appropriate amount of cards. She reached down and picked up her hand, moving her cards around so she could determine if she had a decent hand or not.

To be honest, she wasn’t really sure. With her attention span, she had forgotten most of the hands Spike had shown her earlier. At least she could remember like number cards equated to a hand. The rest she would just wing and see how it went.

Before they left the crypt, Spike told her that each of the demons he normally played with had tells that could give her an idea of what kind of hand they had. ‘Abigor doesn’t blink much if he has a good hand, and Savnock holds his breath and sits still,’ he had said. ‘Clem on the other hand would be a bit harder to read. His style is more toward how he placed his bets.’ Since this was above Buffy’s level, Spike told her not to worry about him too much and leave that to him.

The game began with Abigor placing the first bid. Buffy leaned back in her chair and relaxed, seamlessly going with the game’s rhythm, trying her best to look interested. She grabbed the bottle of Jack next to Spike and took a swig, refraining from making a face since she didn’t want to appear to be a novice at this drinking thing. With this bunch, she knew any sign of weakness could come back and bite her.

She ended up bidding, deciding it was better to look like she cared rather than looking around bored. Surprisingly, she didn’t make any embarrassing errors and made it to the end of the hand, with Spike winning the pot.

Of course, he had to rub it in their faces.

“Well, well, well. It looks like it’s my lucky night after all, mates. Maybe I will be getting me some of that Slayer blood after all,” he said winking at her.

The demons murmured their annoyance, as Savnock grabbed the cards to shuffle and dealt the next hand.

She rolled her eyes as she laughed at him. Her body felt light as his enjoyment seemed to reach her, heating her cheeks. His eyes were lit with laughter and heat as he brushed his hand against hers under the table. Her skin tingled.

What the hell was going on with her? Never before would she outright flirt with him or show any interest whatsoever in his advances. So why was she now? It was difficult to dismiss this as a casual lapse in judgment since her body seemed to jump to attention the closer he got. So why was this happening now?

Was it because of all the time she had been spending with him? Or was it that he was the only person right now that she could stand to be around? That had to be it.

Normally she would have turned to her friends in her time of need, but she couldn’t. They were the ones that had pulled her out of heaven after all. How could she talk to them about that, or hope they would understand? Instead she turned to Spike and confided the misery she was in. For whatever reason, she had this glimmer of hope that he could pull her out of the black hole she was drifting through. Right now he was her best shot, and she was not going to screw that up and lead him on.

She shifted in her chair to give herself a bit more space from him, and took another swig from the whiskey bottle. This would be her last one, she decided.

“Never thought of you as much of a drinker, Slayer?” Clem said.

“Is that so?” she said with indifference.

“Yeah, I never thought I’d see the day that a Slayer would sit at the table and play cards with the likes of us.”

“Well, I guess there’s a first for everything.”

Spike snorted.

After several hands, Buffy lost all her chips and was out with the likes of Clem and Savnock. Nothing had came up so far in the conversation about anything that happened today, and with Abigor holding a few chips, it didn’t look like she was going to get the information she needed.

“I raise,” Abigor said grabbing three chips and threw them into the pot.

Spike concentrated on his cards for a second and tossed three chips in. “I call.” He paused. “Let see what you’ve got.”

They both laid their cards down for everyone to see.

Spike rubbed his hands together, and laughed as he gathered up the chips. In front of him sat a flush.

“What a lucky night for you, Spike,” Abigor said, grumbling.

“I guess my lady has brought a bit of my luck back.”

Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Alright, you ready to finish this?” Spike said.

While Abigor dealt the next hand, Willy walked into the room and grabbed a box of beers and quickly disappeared.

“I’m surprised Willy got the bar cleaned up so quickly after that fight yesterday,” Clem said. “That M’Fashniki demon sure tore the front room apart.”

“Oh yeah? Couldn’t hold his liquor could he?” Spike replied casually, knowing Buffy had killed an M’Fashniki demon the day before.

“No, no it wasn’t that. He came in bragging about hitting up the Sunnydale Savings and Loan. Said his backers were going to give him the….”

Savnock interrupted. “I don’t think he had an appreciation for Klor’s jokes.”

“Well what did he expect, walking in here after making a deal with those three puny humans? Nobody is going to take you seriously after that,” said Clem.

“Humans trying blend in with the likes of us? Please tell me someone took care of those stupid gits.” Spike replied.

Buffy gave him a dirty look letting him know she didn’t appreciate the comment, but mostly so the group wouldn’t get suspicious of her. She knew they were onto something real and hoped they would give away a bit more without having to be pushed. Savnock already seemed on edge after Clem almost gave away what she already knew was her part in this story. Little did they know, the M’Fashniki demon was dead.

“No, they ran off before anyone could do anything.”

“What human in their right mind would come here? Idiots,” Buffy said.

Clem looked surprised by her comment. Savnock stared at her for a moment, obviously fascinated by her comment. She stared at him until he looked away.

“It happens every now and again. You’d be surprised. One of those guys had been in here before. Apparently he built a robot for one of the Lillard demons that used to be in town,” Clem said.

“A robot, huh? Sounds like a bloody loser to me. Hope he scared them off for good. Last thing we want are humans hanging out here,” Spike said, pretending to debate on whether to call or bet. Eventually, he picked up a few chips throwing them into the pot. “Are you in or out, Abigor?”

“I’m all in.” He pushed all of his chips in with a smirk. “All right, let’s see it.”

Abigor laid down a straight and went to reach for the chips.

“Not so fast,” Spike said as he laid his cards down. “I believe a four of a kind still beats a straight.”

Abigor’s face was aghast before turning into anger. “No way! You must have cheated. There is no way those are your cards. Let me see them!”

He stood knocking his chair to the floor, and grabbed the cards to test their authenticity.

“It’s impossible! I saw it. You had a three of a kind!”

“Ah.. using that x-ray vision are you? Some would call that cheating,” Spike said casually.

“How dare you accuse me of cheating!”

“I do dare. The pot is mine.”

Everyone stood at once.

Savnock and Clem both moved to stand by with Abigor.

“You better go Spike, and leave the winnings before things get ugly,” Clem said with a tremble to his voice.

“Or you’ll do what? If it’s a fight you want, you’ll face the both of us.”

“Fine by me,” Abigor replied as he grabbed the dagger off the table and charged at Spike, moving much faster than Buffy expected.

Spike whirled in a semicircle, his duster flying behind him, as he missed Abigor’s assault leaving him sailing past him right as Spike kicked his boot out. Abigor fell against one of the liquor shelves, the knife falling out of his hand as the shelf toppled over. Glass shattered, and bottles rolled over the concrete floor. Spike grabbed a bottle with the bottom missing, and picked Abigor up by the collar of his cloak holding the bottle to his neck.

“Think you’d stand a chance, huh?” Spike said laughing.

It was only then that Savnock had the presence of mind to try and get a jump on Buffy since she was momentarily distracted by Spike. On uneven feet, she swung on him missing completely, almost falling on her ass but caught herself at the last second. The room started to spin as she twirled around and kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing into the concrete wall. With less speed than normal, she reached him before he was able to recover, sending crushing blows to his face. His head moved around like a bobble head doll on the verge of the spring exploding, until his neck snapped.

Buffy closed her eyes, trying to keep the room from spinning and her stomach from spilling its contents. God, she knew she was going to regret this drinking business tomorrow but there was no time to dwell on it now.

She looked over, and saw Spike throwing Abigor to the ground with a bottle sticking out of his head.

“I guess you weren’t up for the challenge after all, mate.” Spike kicked the corpse.

“Well I guess someone’s head is going to hurt worse than mine tomorrow,” Buffy said laughing.

Spike gave her a look of disbelief and smirked. Then he turned his attention to a stack of crates in the corner of the room. “Clem, are you hiding back there?”

Clem slowly stood up, with his hands in front of him, obviously surrendering.

“You know I’m not much of a fighter, Spike. Besides you guys looked like you had your hands full.”

Spike shook his head. “Mate, you sure know how to pick them. Next time you know where to stand.”

“Yeah, Spike.” He smiled, and walked out of the room.

“I’m surprised you let him go,” Buffy said, as Spike walked over to the poker table and picked up his winnings and shoved them inside his duster.

“Clem’s not a bad guy. Pretty harmless really, but next time if he stands against me, he will be the one with a bottle in his head.”

“Not a bad guy? He’s a demon. They’re all evil.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, luv. Clem there doesn’t care for humans. The only thing he kills are kittens. Says they’re tasty.”

She thought she might be sick, and held up her hand for Spike to stop.

“Are you alright, pet? Do you need to sit down or anything?”

“No, I’m fine. Just the thought of eating kittens.”

“It’s not so bad if you consider. He doesn’t bother humans or really anyone. He’s harmless.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “A demon harmless? Yeah right.”

Spike looked at her with a serious look on his face. “You may not believe me, but you should. There are plenty of nonviolent demons around town. But with the way you and your Scoobies feel about demons, there’s no wonder you had no idea. Clem and a few of the others could be helpful, if you would just open your eyes.”

Was this really true? Were there demons running around town she didn’t even know about? Buffy wondered if he was telling her the truth or trying to manipulate her into thinking a demon could be trusted. She knew he was a sneaky bastard when it came to getting something he wanted, but maybe this time it had weight to it.

She would have to look into this more later, and see for herself. Which reminded her about the cockroach looking thingy.

“What the hell was that thing you brought?”

“A verbox. Nasty little bugger. It attacks your cerebral cortex and hallucinations set in. Undead types like to use them on their enemies as way to get them to talk.”

“What the fuck, Spike! Where did you get it?”

He shook his head. “You know I can’t tell you, luv. But just know it will never be used on you.”

“So you have plans to use it on someone then?” she said with a disgusted looked on her face.

“Well obviously I can’t use it on humans! Remember the damn chip. If it gets used, it will be on another vamp or a demon. Can’t say I thought you would worry too much for their safety.”

Well, he did have a point but she still wanted to know where something like that came from. If it were to get into the wrong hands, it could be used against her or her friends.

“Right now, you might wish I was able to use it, since we need to drop in on an old friend of ours. Sounds like he’s moved out of the bot business into sometime a bit more on my level,” Spike said with a grin on his face.

Buffy rolled her eyes, refusing to comment.

Now with the information she needed, it was time to get down to the real business of the night, and see if a demon’s word was worth as much as she hoped it was.